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Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between women's pornography consumption, degree of feminist identification, and sexual and body self-esteem. Until recently, the literature on pornography use has maintained a heteronormative bias, largely focused on the male experience. The researchers conducting this study wished to better understand women's self-motivated pornography consumption and its possible impacts on various aspects of experience. Participants in this study were 109 women over the age of 18 years of age, living in the United States, who had willingly viewed pornography online within the past year. These participants completed an online survey. This sample group scored relatively low on the body esteem scale and high on the sexual self-esteem scale. Results also showed that sexual selfesteem and body esteem were highly correlated, and the higher the degree of feminist values, the less frequently one spent viewing pornography. Further investigation into the female experience with pornography consumption is needed to better understand this complex relationship.